If you want to land a new job this year, you’re far from alone.
More than half (58%) of workers worldwide plan to look for a new job this year, according to new research from LinkedIn. In the U.S., the number of applicants per open job on LinkedIn has jumped from around 1.5 in 2022 to 2.5 as of fall 2024.
Jobseekers might see fewer openings — and more competition for roles — than in previous years, but the search should be “far less painful” than it was in 2024, Bert Bean, CEO of the staffing firm Insight Global, tells CNBC Make It.
Business leaders plan to ramp up hiring after last year’s uncertainties over politics, AI and inflation, among other concerns, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Bean says his company is planning to hire twice as many recruiters this year as it did in 2024.
Even if you don’t work in HR or recruiting, hiring for those positions is a strong bellwether for the white-collar economy.
“If companies are hiring there, they’re usually preparing to hire in other departments as well,” says Bean. “We’re still holding our breath a bit, but I think this is the most optimistic business leaders have felt in the past two and a half years.”
More than 75% of CEOs expect the global economy to improve in the first half of this year, partly because they anticipate lower taxes and fewer regulations under the incoming Trump administration, according to a recent survey of more than 300 public company CEOs by advisory firm Teneo.
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. employers intend to hire for permanent roles in the next six months, staffing and consulting firm Robert Half reports. This is a notable increase from mid-2024, when only half of companies reported similar hiring plans.
Although hiring will start to pick up in 2025, some industries offer stronger prospects for job seekers than others. Bean encourages candidates to target roles in health care, engineering and finance, as well as oil and gas.
Employers in these fields are increasing their headcounts for different reasons.
Optimism among oil and natural gas executives for sector growth is at its highest level in more than five years, mostly bolstered by incoming President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to boost oil and gas exports in the U.S., according to recent research by risk management consultancy DNV. Anticipating a busy year ahead, Bean points out, employers in this field are hiring more.
Health-care employers are hiring for different reasons. There’s been a “strong, consistent appetite for talent” in this field since the start of the pandemic, Bean explains, party due to high levels of burnout and turnover in the health-care workforce.
Plus, faced with an aging population and a slew of new, highly contagious diseases, “health-care providers, like large hospital systems, are hiring like crazy for all kinds of skills, especially for nurses, given the nursing shortage we’re facing in the U.S.,” Bean notes.
Tech and finance companies will ratchet up hiring in 2025 for a much simpler reason, Bean adds: to counteract the layoffs and conservative hiring that defined these two industries in 2023 and 2024.
“The threat of a recession spooked everyone, and then that recession never came,” says Bean. “So just as we talked ourselves into a recession, I think we’re talking ourselves out [of it].”
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